


Ineffable Valentines - Day 8: Touch

by LollyHolly99



Series: Ineffable Valentines 2020 [8]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Aziraphale Loves Crowley (Good Omens), Crowley Loves Aziraphale (Good Omens), Holding Hands, M/M, Other, Pre-Apocalypse, Scene: The Bus Ride (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22640260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LollyHolly99/pseuds/LollyHolly99
Summary: Much as water and fire cannot touch without harming one another - water through extinguishing the fire, and fire through evaporating the water - demons and angels, being at opposite ends of a spectrum of goodness and evilness, of ethereality and occultness, will inevitably do harm to one another if corporeal angel skin meets corporeal demon skin.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Ineffable Valentines 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619575
Comments: 5
Kudos: 30
Collections: Ineffable Valentines 2020





	Ineffable Valentines - Day 8: Touch

**Author's Note:**

> [day 8](https://mielpetite.tumblr.com/post/190020835427/okay-people-thank-you-all-for-your-input-i-have)! today's (yesterday's, really, since stuff happened and I didn't get it done until now) prompt: touch c:

It's a known fact, among angels and demons, that they are inherently physically incompatible with those of the other side. A lesson, taught from creation, that contact between an angel and one that is fallen, particularly between their corporeal forms, is... well, not expressly forbidden, but _highly_ advised against. At their own risk.

It's in much the same way that, for humans, touching a live wire isn't illegal, but warnings are plastered anywhere there might be that risk of electrocution.

Heaven and Hell are very clear to their people, making sure they know that demons and angels were never meant to make that kind of contact. That the punishment, not directly from any higher power, not any sort of actively performed smiting, would instead be a result of natural oppositeness.

Much as water and fire cannot touch without harming one another - water through extinguishing the fire, and fire through evaporating the water - demons and angels, being at opposite ends of a spectrum of goodness and evilness, of ethereality and occultness, will inevitably do harm to one another if corporeal angel skin meets corporeal demon skin.

The distance between the headquarters of both kinds of beings are far enough apart that this isn't generally a worry for either of them. No angel could accidentally bump into a demon while going about their business, and vice versa. No angel or demon would _want_ to, either. And as both angels and demons tend to spend as little time on Earth as possible, there's no chance of easily running into the opposition anywhere there, either.

One angel and demon both long for the touch they fear will destroy themselves and the other, but discard their yearning desperately, in favour of what common sense they have, of a thousand other fears at once.

They can't allow touches to happen, even when they've managed to move past being 'acquaintances' to being 'friends'. They won't risk it, it would be unthinkable, to cause the other pain for some vague relief, for a touch that would burn themselves just as hard. 

It's on a bus, when their fear is bubbling under the surface of their skin, when they've turned against their head offices, that the pair find out that what they've been taught all this time isn't happening for them.

Aziraphale's hand absentmindedly, desperately, reaches out to hold Crowley's in a bid for some comfort, something to ground him as they head off for the demon's flat.

Crowley, without looking, or even thinking about it, laces their fingers together and squeezes it back, needing the comfort just as badly.

It's quiet for a moment, save for the hum of the bus' engine. It's nice. The pair sit back in their seats, letting held-in breaths escape.

And then the two look at where they're joined. Their eyes widen, and they both snatch their respective hands away.

" _Shit_ \- I- _fuck_ , angel, sorry-"

"Oh- oh, I am so sorry, my dear, I- _bugger_ , I wasn't thinking-"

"I didn't mean to hurt you-" they both blurt out simultaneously amongst their babbling.

"...Wait, I..." Crowley pauses, and looks at the palm of his retreated hand. "...Actually, I, uh... I'm... fine? No burning pain at all."

He looks up at Aziraphale, suddenly even more worried, as the details of the situation at hand coalesce in his head.

"Shit, I didn't...?! Did I transfer all the pain to you, somehow?! _Gah_ , fuck, I'm sorry, I-"

"Actually," Aziraphale interrupts, looking at his own hand in confusion. "I didn't feel anything either. The most heat I felt from that was your - well, what I presume to be the natural warmth of your body.

"You..." Crowley blinks at the angel. "You really didn't?"

"Really. And you definitely didn't, either?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing, no."

Aziraphale blinks. "...How odd."

There's a few moments spent in silence as the information settles for the two, before Aziraphale speaks up again.

"Crowley... would you mind terribly if I tried something?"

The demon swallows. "What's _something_?"

Aziraphale reaches over and takes Crowley's hand again, more deliberately this time. Deliberately, but nervously, shakily.

Crowley almost draws his hand back. However, his curiosity has always gotten the better of him - asking questions is part of the reason he lost his spot in Heaven, after all - and he leaves it there as Aziraphale's fingers fit in the spaces between his own, just to see what happens.

Nothing, is what happens. Zilch. Absolutely fuck all.

Silence descends on them once again. They simply stare at their joined hands, waiting. Waiting for something to happen, for their forearms to melt or explode or shrivel away into nothing or all of those possibilities at once, waiting for the concept of what they're seeing to feel real, waiting for someone to come along and tell them that at least _some_ part of this is a crazy prank.

They look back at eachother, when it finally sets in. It's a disbelieving, but hopeful look.

Their hands grip tighter, and hold on for the rest of the ride, and even longer, until their essences switch through them at the end of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> why'd they not get hurt after heaven and hell said they would? that's for y'all to decide. vote now on your phones \o/
> 
> [hmu on my tumblr](https://lollyholly99.tumblr.com/)! and/or, [come hang in my gomens discord](https://discord.gg/6AMeV2C)!


End file.
